


nobody is too busy, it's just a matter of priorities

by not_the_tie_youre_looking_for



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Hopeful Ending, Being in a Rebellion is hard, Everyone is tired, Ezra being a Commander, Fulcrum Agents, Gen, Hera being a General, Humidity, Kaytoo's sass, Overworking, Post-Episode: s03e21-22 Zero Hour, Red Squadron, Sabine likes water showers, Sleep Deprivation, Undercover Cassian, Yavin 4, also did I mention Yavin 4 is humid, please help them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2018-12-12 05:43:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11730684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_the_tie_youre_looking_for/pseuds/not_the_tie_youre_looking_for
Summary: Hera's promotion to General leaves her focused solely on the growth of the Rebellion.Or:4 times Hera was running late, plus one time she ended up running too late.





	1. ezra

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for a while, so we'll see how this goes...
> 
> If you guys find any issues feel free to tell me! This was sadly written in a notes app, and my fingers have the tendency to slip every once in a while.

Yavin 4 was a horribly humid mudball, if Ezra was being completely honest with himself. 

Sweat dripped off of his forehead in streams when he worked during the morning and evening hours, and condensation was everywhere - the ships, the chairs, the clothing - even the food (which unfortunately had resulted in more than one case of moldy rations). The cooler depths of the temple, where the barracks's were located, were one of the few places on base where one could hide from the heavy air that penetrated the hangers and storage rooms.

It made it all the harder to get out of bed each morning.

Kanan, Zeb, and Sabine had been sent out on a minor op during the previous evening, taking the Phantom II to some asteroid field near the Mid-Rim for some kind of Fulcrum pickup. Before Ezra had the chance to object, Hera had told him that she had plans to give him more duties that would let him gain more high-leveled experience in his rank of Commander. 

As said Commander rolled out of his bed, dressed in his rebel garb, his thoughts strayed to Hera - General Syndulla, now.

The first two weeks after the remains of Phoenix Squadron made it to the Massassi Groups base on the small moon of Yavin 4 had been an unpleasant mess. Debriefing after debriefing had been given to the current rebel leadership on what had occurred both on and above the surface of Attolon. The Madolorians had proved most stubborn as they were held against their will to give their version of events on what happened on the second Interdictor, but they were soon free to leave along with Sabine.

The death of Commander Sato left the Rebel leadership with the decision to merge the remains of Phoenix Squadron into the Massassi Group - along with a promotion for Hera to General of the remaining fighters and support.

The whole Ghost crew had congratulated her on the promotion, but the circumstances that led to it had stained the Twi'lek's view. Sato had been a great friend to her, and taught her many things in being both a leader and rebel. A rank jump as large as Captain to General had left the feeling of a title undeserved.

However, she took the job seriously.

Maybe a bit too seriously.

As he walked out the door of his bunk-room, Ezra realized had hardly seen her in the past weeks, save for quick breakfasts and dinners in the cafeteria and op briefings. She was always in meetings with other Generals, being debriefed on top-secret intel only the higher-ups were privy to. She had years of information to catch up on.

As he passed a few crewmen on the way to the main hanger, he spotted her, caf in one hand and report in the other, walking quickly towards the main briefing room.

"Hey, Hera!" he called out, walking towards her.

She slowed and turned to him, but didn't stop. "Hey Ezra. Sleep well last night?"

He nodded. "Yep," he stated, looking at her face. "I'm guessing you didn't?"

Hera's eyes had dark circles under them, and the steaming caf in her hand looked fresh. Her clothes were a bit wrinkled, as if she had slept in them or at least had been in them for a while without a wash. Her new General's jacket had certainly seen better days in its short lifetime.

She smiled sadly. "I've got a lot of catching up to do, Ezra. The faster I get it done, the faster I can start to run mission operations and gain intel."

Ezra shook his head in amazement. "You know that you need your sleep, right? How many times have you told me to wait until morning to get things done?" 

She sighed irritably, then shifted the conversation. "Ezra, I've got a meeting with Mon Mothma and General Dravin I need to get to. We can talk about my sleeping habits later at dinner."

"But Hera-"

"Oh, right! Here's your duty roster from Rebel Command. As a Commander you'll soon have a squadron to look after, so you can go speak with Commander Dreis to gain some insight into the job. Now if you excuse me -"

"Wait, Hera -"

"- Mon Mothma's waiting for me, and I'm running late." She sped up, taking a sip of her caf, tired eyes on her report, and leaving Ezra behind.

Ezra probably stood there looking like a moron for a good minute before he sighed heavily and turned towards the hanger opening. Commander Dreis and his Red Squadron X-Wing pilots were in morning formation on the flight deck. He made sure to speak with the Commander after the warm-up, the heavy humidity soaking through his heavy clothing.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Hera didn't show up at dinner.

-.-.-.-.-.-

As he glared at the ceiling of his bunk later that night, covered in a sheet of sweat, Ezra decided that he would have to have a word with Kanan about this when he got back.


	2. sabine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabine, Kanan, and Zeb go on an Op to pick up a certain somebody, and Sabine loves water showers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you find any errors! I type this story on a notes app (which deleted my summary, by the way, so that's why it took me so long to get back into this) so there's bound to be a few mistakes!

Of-kriffing-course, the op had to turn backwards. It always did.

It was supposed to be simple. Stupidly simple. Yet they still managed to kriff it all up. 

Rebel intelligence had informed the team of three evening before that yet another one of their Fulcrum agents' positions had been compromised: a officer in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had been dealt with accordingly, but his absence would soon be noticed, as would Fulcrum's involvement.

They were to go to the Imperial shipyards at Phindar and dock for a "small shipment pickup" and wait for further instructions.

But nooooo.

As soon as the Phantom had dropped out of hyperspace, there was already a firefight going on.

A swarm of TIE fighters raced after what Sabine assumed to be a stolen TIE Interceptor, piloted by none other than their "pickup."

As soon as they saw what was going on, Kanan and Zeb both cursed and quickly sat on the seats in the cargo area of the Phantom as Sabine readied herself for combat.

-.-.-.-.-.-

That had been merely a minute ago.

Sabine cursed for the umpteenth time as another blast grazed the underbelly of the Phantom II. She shot another blast at a TIE in her sights, then barreled her way through the rest to maneuver her way to the stolen Interceptor.

"Zeb, see if you can open up communications with that TIE before we jump! I need that code phrase!"

"On it!" The lasat stated as he made his way towards the small com station to Sabine's right.

"Rouge Interceptor, this is the Mandalorian Shuttle Totality. Are you in need of assistance with that cargo?"

A pause. Then, with a burst of static, an accented voice came over the com.

"Totality, the shadow you provide will be of great assistance."

A wide grin appeared on Zeb's face with a laugh. "Great! Meet you at the rendezvous, rouge-" 

Another shot grazed the ship, the fin this time, and Zeb nearly fell backwards with a grunt. A second later, the TIE entered hyperspace, and another second later, the Phantom followed.

-.-.-.-.-.-

The Interceptor's add-on hyperdrive could only take it so far, so the two ships stopped at the trading port over the planet of Botajef. They docked, and Sabine put her helmet on to welcome the visitor. It had been painted hurriedly in shades of grey and white a few hours before departure, in order to blend into the scene of the Phindar station - a mandolorian wouldn't be a new sight, as Madalore was only a few light-years away. 

It served them on Botajef as well, it seemed. 

Both Kanan and Zeb choose to stay inside, as a blind man and a lasat bore close resemblance to the wanted posters plastered around the station. 

At least she'd look like an Imperial.

She stood outside the docking hatch, watching the crowd meander towards their various destinations. Any indication of somebody walking towards the Phantom would make her fingers twitch for her pistols - warranted or not.

Sabine then saw him - a man, with short black hair and tanned skin. He looked pretty composed, brandishing the uniform of an Imperial officer, yet his movements were quick as he made his way towards her. 

He stopped about a meter in front of Sabine, looking her up and down. After a moment, he said one word, and that was all Sabine needed.

"Totality?"

The accent sure sounded the same.

Sabine smiled under her mask and slapped him on the shoulder. 

"Glad we got to you when we did, agent. Get yourself into trouble?"

Fulcrum smirked. "You could say that. Sorry there was no update, by the way. I couldn't get another message to command between finding a ship and getting out."

"It's no trouble, sir," Sabine stated. As she led him towards the entryway, she continued. "However, due to the unexpected detour, we're running a bit late to headquarters. We can get you settled inside. You did manage to dispose of your ship, right?"

Fulcrum nodded. "My droid is doing so right now."

"Wait." 

Sabine turned around. "You have a droid with you? We weren't informed about this."

Fulcrum nodded, "Yeah. He was part of my cover. Dravin didn't tell you?"

"He kind of skipped over that part. He seemed pretty skittish over the whole thing, to be honest."

The hatch opened, revealing Zeb at the com and Kanan opening a ration. 

Sabine continued. "Anyways, the trip back to base should only take a few hours, so we'll probably be back after dark on planet. You can get as comfortable as you can and have a bite to eat. When your droid shows up I'll tell him to get in the socket on top." 

As she turned to head out back again, she only heard Fulcrum's voice telling her "He's not an astromech-" before she was suddenly facing an Imperial security droid at the door.

Out of pure instinct, she unholstered her pistols in an instant and was about to fire when she was pulled backwards.

"Wait!" Fulcrum cried. "He's with us!"

There was a pause. Then: 

"What?!" 

She pushed away from Fulcrum, and saw that both Kanan and Zeb had their weapons in hand.

"I said," Fulcrum stated, "He's with us."

The droid's head cocked to the side. 

"Has there been another problem, Cassian?"

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Your droid is an Imperial?!"

"I reprogrammed him! I told you he was getting rid of the TIE! An astromech can't easily do that!"

"Well then, you obviously haven't met Chopper!"

"That's enough, Sabine," Kanan interrupted. 

The droid had quickly stepped inside at Fulcrum's - no, Cassian's - advisory, and Zeb had closed the hatch before the yelling ensued. 

Kanan continued. "There's obviously been a miscommunication on our part, and because of that we need to adapt. There's no need to get angry over it."

Sabine quietly grunted her displeasure, but backed down, removing her helmet. "Fine."

Kanan smiled, and continued.

"Now, it's a bit crowded in here, but there should be enough room for all of us, even the droid. And to that, I believe it's time for introductions, once we've taken off."

Sabine edged towards the pilots chair and did so, Zeb debriefing Cassian as they made their way out of the port and into hyperspace.

Soon, everybody had gotten comfortable, so Kanan gestured towards their guests.

The Fulcrum Agent took it in stride, and started to speak.

"I'm Cassian Andor, captain in Intelligence. This-" -he pointed to the droid- "-is K-2SO. Reprogrammed Imperial security droid."

The droid rolled his eyes. "Well, obviously."

The fact that Andor hadn't reacted told Sabine that Kaytoo's sassy attitude wasn't new. She decided to get to the point.

"I'm Sabine Wren, that's Kanan, and Zeb. We're part of the Phoenix remnant from Attolon."

Andor's eyes widened. "The Spectres," he stated. "I heard from my position in the Empire that the Rebels near Lothal had been massacred by that alien Grand Admiral. They made it sound like nobody survived."

Sabine laughed mirthfully, turning back in her chair to face the viewport. "That's the Empire for you. Yet, here we are - alive."

She shook her head. "Anyways," she continued, "what the hell went wrong back at Phindar?"

Before Andor could answer, the droid cut him off. 

"Cassian panicked."

Andor slapped the droid's arms "I did not!"

Again, the droid rolled its eyes. "Oh come on. I would have panicked too if I knew that lowly shipping officer I disposed of was one of the Grand Admiral's spies." 

Zeb's eyes widened. "Karabast, that must have been quite the realization."

Andor sighed. "He showed up right after the assault on Attolon, I should have connected the dots."

Kanan frowned sympathetically. "The guy's a lot smarter than most give him credit for. My team was almost killed quite a few times by his hand. He was probably trying to weed out any rebel sympathizers in case they could help the Phoenix Remnant."

Cassian nodded. "That would make sense... I just want to know what gave me away."

Kanan shrugged. "The Admiral's got an intuition about him - honestly, you'll probably never know."

And with that, the shuttle was encased in a cold silence that made Sabine shiver.

-.-.-.-.-.-

They landed on Yavin 4 in the middle of the night. Only a few maintenance crews were up and about doing repairs on A-Wings and Y-Wings, and a commander or two commanding an inspection. 

In the long hours of the flight back to Yavin, Kanan, Cassian, and Zeb had rested on the seats and floor of the Phantom with blankets and headrests from the shuttle's storage compartment. The droid had set on the floor and shut down in order to not take up too much space. 

Sabine, of course, had to pilot the entire way back. To keep and potential trackers off their course three separate jumps had to be timed and calculated. This left her very tired, and very irritable. 

Though the moisture in the air wasn't as heavy as it was during the day, by the time Sabine had quickly sent a report to General Dravin and headed to her bunk in the barracks, she was covered in sweat. 

Great.

She removed her whitewashed armor, didn't bother with the flight suit, and fell into bed, drifting asleep almost immediately. 

-.-.-.-.-.-

Out of pure habit (or spite, she wasn't sure) Sabine woke up in the early hours of the morning, desperately needing both a shower and a cup of caf. Both could be found in the grounded Ghost, so she made her way towards it.

While the ship she had called home for the past few years had been in space, water for their shower system had been harder to come by, especially after leaving Lothal. They had to make use of the sonic showers more often than not - however, this was not the case on Yavin. 

The air was literally made of water, and there were lots of small bodies of water nearby, so when the Ghost was on the ground, they had water showers.

Best. Invention. Ever.

She wasn't expecting to run into Hera when she climbed the ladder to the upper decks. The twi'lek was sitting at the derjak table, caf in one hand and a datapad in the other. 

If Sabine was being honest.... Hera looked horrible. Her eyes had bags under them, making her look as though she hadn't slept in weeks. Her clothes were wrinkled, and despite the heat, her jacket was on over her shoulders with her flight sit and all.

"Aren't you sweating underneath all that?" Sabine asked.

Hera looked up, like she hadn't noticed Sabine walk in, and smiled. 

"Hey Sabine! Back already?"

The mandalorian smiled back thinly. "I've been back since late last night. General Dravin has a bit to tell us, as we weren't told all the details of our mission, but despite that, it went well."

Hera nodded absently. "Yes, that's good to hear."

Sabine gave her a look. "Are you okay Hera?"

She looked up again, surprised. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

Sabine's eyes widened. "What do you mean, 'why do you ask'?! You look like you haven't slept in weeks!"

Hera snorted. "Of course I have."

Sabine didn't believe that for a second. Before she could say so, however, there was a beep from Hera's datapad, causing her eyes to widen. 

"Oh, hell, I'm going to be late."

She quickly gathered her things and pushed passed Sabine. "See you later."

"Wait, Hera!"

By the time Sabine had followed her back down to the cargo hold, Hera was nowhere in sight. 

Forget the shower. Sabine needed to go find Ezra.


End file.
